Subjection or Conformity?

Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. (Romans 13:2)

I have been struggling to understand this from different perspectives. Another aspect came to my mind this morning. In the days of Jeremiah the prophet, Israel had become so wicked that God “arranged” for various foreign nations to come and act as ministers of wrath against Israel. The messages of Jeremiah to the rulers and people were to not resist or fight against these invasions but to allow themselves to be captured and taken away to Babylon.

Of course this did not sit too well with the king and his counselors and instead they not only resisted their enemies (who were ordained by God) but they carried out various acts of shame and brutality against Jeremiah including destroying the hand-written scroll of his prophecies in a fire, stripping him naked and even dropping him into a pit full of slimy, stinky mud. The leaders were clinging to promises from the past of God's protection while refusing to align their hearts with the God of those promises. As a result, their resistance produced massive destruction, devastation, torture and death at levels far beyond what God had planned to allow for them. Instead of escaping punishments for their sins they only amplified them.

In a number of passages in the Old Testament God talks about the surrounding nations that attacked Israel as His agents to teach Israel a lesson. He also notes that many times these nations carried out His “wrath” with far more enthusiasm and vengeance than what He intended and as a consequence His “wrath” was now to be turned against them and they would suffer even more tragic consequences because of their unfaithfulness in the job of being God's avengers. But just because they were far more abusive than what God had planned did not nullify the fact that God had “chosen” them to carry out the role of authorities to act in His behalf against His chosen people who had filled up their capacity for sin against Him.

So the wickedness of an “arranged authority” does not disqualify them from being an authority that needs to be acknowledged and be subject to. This must be balanced out against the fact that there are also illegitimate false authorities that are not necessarily ordained by God who make false claims of jurisdiction over our lives. But how are we to discern the difference? Is it even possible to always be able to discern the difference?

Again, it seems that throughout this passage that the main point is not so much discerning who is a God-ordained authority and who is not, but the reaction of resistance or the choice to relate with a respectful attitude to even those who may be overzealous in their role as avengers of wrath.

It also makes sense that humans, with their false views of the real meaning of wrath, will almost always become overzealous in the prosecution of enforcement duties arranged for them by God. Because the human flesh is so addicted to power and control and violence, whenever they are entrusted with responsibilities for exercising authority over others they will often become contaminated with the heady illusions of superiority and will become over-abusive and act very un-godlike. But just because others have overstepped their roles as God's delegated authority does not excuse anyone of allowing a desire for revenge to fill their own spirit with bitterness and thereby have their heart and spirit poisoned and poison many around them. (Heb. 12:15)

It is the condition of our spirit that is of utmost importance in the sight of God. Religion has given us the illusion that facts and doctrines are the most important things in heaven's eyes, but this is absolutely untrue. The message that rings all throughout Scripture from Genesis to Revelation is that the attitude and spirit that we cherish and how we relate in our spirit to God and those around us determines our condition in the eyes of heaven and ultimately our eternal destiny. Our beliefs and doctrines may have a great influence on the choices we make that affect the direction of our spirit, but it is the condition of our spirit that is of primary focus in the messages of God. He is primarily concerned with our heart because it is our heart that was created to unite with Him. He has also set eternity in their heart... (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Our heart is the connecting link between God and humanity, not our intellect as important and useful as that may be.

Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' (Matthew 7:22-23) There are many who are deceived into thinking that if they can just get the right formula figured out or do all the right things religiously that they will be assured a place in the kingdom of heaven. But Jesus stated emphatically that it is being known by Him – at the heart level – that determines one's qualification for living in the presence of the God who is passionately heart-oriented.

That is why it is so important to understand the message of Romans 13. Because a person could even subject themselves to every authority in the world but still be lost. They may find themselves standing before God and making very similar claims to those just listed in Matthew 7 and get the same answer from Jesus. Yes, there is a need to get along as much as possible with all men (Rom. 12:18), but if it is done without a transformation of the heart and without genuine, supernatural love as described later in this chapter, it will be completely useless except to make life a little less troublesome with the authorities.

The kind of subjection talked about in this chapter must be understood as being defined by the passage itself. I don't believe it is necessarily the kind of subjection that many Christians sometimes advocate, like that promoted in Germany during the early years of Hitler. It might be easy from our vantage point to see a problem with that thinking back there, yet it is the very same reasoning used today to promote blind subjection to governmental forces and agencies that have the very same spirit and intentions that was displayed in the 1930's and 40's in Germany.

It was not then obvious what the true character of Hitler's regime was or the results that would eventually come about because of his beliefs and goals. And neither is it often clear the diabolical nature of many of the goals and methods of present day governments that are going to end up in very similar tragedies. The terrible results of giving higher priority to “security” than to real freedom will only end up in national ruin and complete loss of the freedoms that this country was founded to protect. I believe we have already gone far past the point of no return and the end is coming very soon.

So the real question becomes, how should people respond to delegated authorities like the Nazi Regime or similar entities today in light of this chapter? Romans 13 has always been thrown down as the rationale for obedience to demands of despotic regimes. But I do not believe that was the real purpose for which this chapter was written. It has been used very effectively for intimidating Christians for centuries and making them feel guilty for opposing satanically inspired authorities, but what is the real message here without the spin of those with a strong agenda for blind allegiance to worldly agendas?

I see part of the answer as something of a subversive subjection; compliance within reason but with very careful attention paid to the spirit within. It is outward subjection when allowed by conscience but having a spirit that may not be in harmony with the spirit of abusive authorities. Of course there are some authorities that try to carry out their duties in a right spirit and these should be honored and affirmed for doing so. But this area is an issue that is often at the center of tension between conscience and conformity. In fact, the abusive way many Christians have promoted this chapter is in direct conflict with Romans 12:2 where we are instructed to not be conformed to this world.

So the question now seems to be, how do you live in subjection without caving into conformity?

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